Chapter 17: Jak
He woke to darkness, breathing hard, heart racing. For one bleak moment, Jak imagined he was back in the mobbies’ box, but as he blinked his eyes, he realized he was seeing the normal dark of Shadriss at night. He heard soft breathing beside him, the sound of someone sleeping. He sat up and found Kamura stretched out on the sofa. He’d been sleeping on the floor by the door. His cloak was folded under his head as a pillow. How much time had passed? Jak stood up, or tried to; but his spinning head and aching joints forced him to stop on hands and knees, panting, fighting back nausea.
His stomach rumbled. He had no idea how long it had been since he’d eaten. He looked for the canvas bag and found it where he’d dropped it. Pulling open the top, he hauled out some of the rations he’d brought for the mobbies. He found a package of soft candy and ate it, then added a helping of spiced meat. The combination didn’t sit well on his uneasy stomach, but it took the edge off his hunger. Yet even as he wolfed the food, he couldn’t help but be aware of what Tessa must be feeling now. All she had to sustain her was a small container of water and the hope that he would come back in time to save her.
The thought of water made him stumble to Tessa’s cupboard. Only four bottles left, and the next delivery day for fresh drinking water wouldn’t be for a week. Still, one way or another, they weren’t likely to be here that long. With care, it should be enough to last. The water went down sweetly, and Jak had to fight the temptation to gulp the whole bottle.
Kamura woke as he drank. She sat up, startled, looking confused, and then relaxed when she realized Jak was awake. She thumbed on a small, lamp. The sudden light stabbed his eyes, and he blinked at the pain. She clutched his hand, her anxious fingers like claws against his skin.
"Jak, are you all right?" she stammered. "I thought you were dying."
"Not yet."
The words came out in a grunt. His throat felt raw. He gulped one last swig of water and took a closer look at her. By the dim light of the single lamp, her face looked thin and strained.
"How long have I been out?" he asked.
"Almost a full day."
"No! That can’t be true!"
"You came back from the market this morning a bloody mess and passed out. I tried to get you to tell me what had happened, but you just mumbled something about n’Tau," she answered in a rush of words that told him just how frightened she’d been. "And those look like knife wounds on your chest and arms. I dressed them as best I could. And you kept asking for stim, so I gave you some. I didn’t know what else to do."
"Yeah. You did right," he said, ignoring the weakness that still gripped him.
He had to hurry. The Alpha had promised to keep Tessa for two days before killing her. He could still get to her in time. But had the mobbie leader kept his promise? Could he hold his rebellious pack in check that long? Jak ignored his shaky muscles as he rummaged in the bag and found the tranquilizers. With fumbling fingers, he opened the first few capsules and began sprinkling the food with a light coating of the white powder inside. He wanted the mobbies to fall asleep, but not so quickly that the slower eaters got suspicious as their fellows dropped all around them.
"What’s that? Is that poison?" She sounded ready to stop him.
"Just tranquilizers," he answered. "I just want to put the mobbies to sleep."
"Okay then, let me do that," Kamura said, taking the capsules from him. Her steady fingers soon had the rest of the tranquilizers spread evenly on the food, all except for a portion that Jak kept clean for Tessa. He shoved the food back in the bag, along with one of the bottles of drinking water. The blaster Kamura had taken off him was on a shelf by the door. Jak stuffed it into the back of his waistband. Not that a blaster had done him much good so far. He tied the bag shut and staggered toward the door.
Kamura scrambled up and ran after him. "Wait! Where are you going?"
"To get Tessa. I just hope I’m not too late."
"But you can’t go yet. You’re still too ill."
"Got to get Tessa," he insisted.
"Then I’m going with you," Kamura said.
"Forget it," he told her. "You don’t know how to deal with mobbies. That’s why you hired me, remember? You stay here, or you’ll get us all killed."
She opened her mouth to protest, but something in the grim set of his face stopped her. She seemed very frightened and alone, but for once, she didn’t argue. His knife was still his boot. He put a spare knife and blaster in the bag for Tessa, separate from the cheap weapons he’d bought for the mobbies. He hoped she’d be in good-enough shape to use them when he reached her.
"Stay here, and don’t open the door to anybody but me or Tessa," he instructed. "And whatever you do, don’t open the door to any pathetic little mobbies. Got that?"
She nodded. "What should I do if you don’t come back?"
"Go home."
She started to protest.
"Go home. Got that? Go. Home."
Kamura gave him a long look. "Yes."
He slung the black bag over his shoulder and tried not to show the sudden wave of weakness that washed over him. There was no point in frightening Kamura even more. Maybe he’d feel better once he was out in the night air and moving around. He couldn’t feel much worse.
Climbing the stairs to the roof was like climbing a mountain. Jak just kept putting one foot in front of the other. None of the thoughts that came to him were pleasant, so he tried not to think at all. There was a sour taste in his mouth, like fear and anger mixed. He moved silently through the blood-warm night, dropping from roof to roof as he retraced the way he’d come the night before.
Omniphage Invasion Page 17
